


Not Going Anywhere

by natashasbanner



Series: Prompts [22]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Kid Fic, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-07-17 15:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16098590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashasbanner/pseuds/natashasbanner
Summary: Bruce is too used to good things in his life being taken away and with the arrival of he and Natasha's baby girl, his senses are on high alert. Natasha assures him he has nothing to worry about.This wasn't prompted, but still written for Tumblr.





	Not Going Anywhere

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy :)

After over 24 hours of the most intense pain Natasha has ever felt in her life, she was finally here. They never imagined they could have this but there she was, their little miracle. She was all bundled up in Bruce’s arms while their fellow Avengers fawned over the newborn baby.   
  
“You did good, Nat.” Clint praised the new mother, giving her shoulders a light squeeze and kissing her forehead.   
  
“Thanks Clint,” Natasha said, never taking her eyes off Bruce and their daughter.   
  
“What is her name?” Thor asked with a goofy grin as the baby’s tiny hand clutched his pinkie.   
  
“Ruby,” Natasha announced with a fond smile, reaching a hand out to gently stroke the baby’s silky red hair.   
  
“It suits her,” Steve said from beside Thor with a crooked smile, his eyes shining as he looked down at Ruby.   
  
“Smile,” Tony said, catching them all off guard and snapping a picture before anyone realized what was happening. Tony smirked as he looked at his phone and made himself comfortable at the foot of Natasha’s bed.   
  
The sound of Ruby fussing caught their attention and all eyes were on the baby in an instant.   
  
“I think she’s hungry,” Bruce whispered to Natasha who nodded and held her arms out for Ruby.   
  
“I think that’s our cue to leave fellas.” Clint said leading the way to the door. Each man said their goodbyes to the new parents before shuffling out of the private hospital room and closed the door.   
  
Bruce stood from the chair beside the bed, careful not to jostle Ruby, and placed her in Natasha’s waiting arms. Instead of returning to his chair he sat on the edge of the bed pressed his forehead to Natasha’s temple as she nursed Ruby.   
  
“You did it,” he whispered in her ear.   
  
“We did it,” she whispered back, turning her head to kiss his nose.   


* * *

A couple days later Natasha and Ruby were discharged from the hospital and welcomed into Avengers Tower. They were only there for about a week when Natasha started to notice a change in Bruce’s behavior. She almost didn’t notice at first, but when Bruce all but snatched Ruby away from Tony one morning after finding his best friend holding her one handed while he moved around the kitchen. He had shocked everyone that day, Tony especially, but they seemed to shake it off. Natasha on the other hand watched Bruce closely after that.   
  
After observing his behavior for only a few hours the next day she realized he was hovering. Wherever Ruby was, Bruce was there too. When the guys held her, he sat not too far away, ready to jump in and take Ruby at any second. He was the first one to move if she so much as made a sound and once he held her he never seemed to want to put her down.   
  
Natasha wouldn’t call his hovering bad, but it was troubling. He was barely sleeping and she could tell it was taking its toll on him. If he kept this up he was going to burn himself out within the month and she needed him at his best if she was going to be a parent. She had no idea what she was doing. She was terrified she was going to do something wrong, or that something was going to happen to Ruby. She had a feeling Bruce was feeling the same way, she was just better at internalizing her fear.   


* * *

A few nights later Natasha laid awake just watching Bruce as he slept. They were both sleep deprived, Ruby had kept them up the last couple nights, but Natasha wanted to make sure Bruce got the sleep he so desperately needed after Tony told her Bruce fell asleep in the lab earlier that day.   
  
Natasha’s eyelids began getting heavy, but as soon as they closed a quiet whine came through the baby monitor. She listened for any more cries but was relieved when none came. Her relief was short lived however when the bed beside her shifted. She opened her eyes to see Bruce sitting up on his side of the bed. He picked grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and glanced over at Natasha.   
  
“I’m going to check on Ruby.”   
  
“She’s fine,” Natasha tried to reason with him. “She doesn’t need fed for another two hours. You should get some sleep.”   
  
“I’m fine. I just want to check. I’ll be right back,” he told her and left their room.   
  
Natasha sighed and sat up in bed, listening to Bruce over the monitor opening the door to Ruby’s room and talking to her quietly. She waited for Bruce to come back to bed, but after almost twenty minutes she got up and went down the hall to Ruby’s room.   
  
She found Bruce sitting in the rocking chair with Ruby cradled in his arms, all of his attention focused on her. Natasha watched him slowly rock back and forth for a moment before deciding to make her presence known.   
  
“She’s never going to sleep on her own if you hold her all night,” she told him, leaning on the wall next to the door.   
  
“She was fussing, I was going to come back as soon as she calmed down.”   
  
Natasha knew that was a lie but she let it go for the moment.   
  
“You’ve been in here for twenty minutes.”   
  
Bruce didn’t comment, he just continued to stare down at Ruby.   
  
“What’s going on, Bruce?” She asked.   
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”   
  
“I think you do,” Natasha said, crossing the room and sitting down on the stool in front of the rocking chair. She put a hand on Bruce’s knee, but he still refused to meet her eyes.   
  
“Talk to me.”   
  
The room was silent for several heartbeats until Bruce spoke.   
  
“I don’t want to lose her,” he told her, finally making eye contact.   
  
“What do you mean?” Natasha asked her brow wrinkling.   
  
“Every good thing in my life has been taken away from me. You and Ruby are the best things that have ever happened to me. For once, I got what I wanted and I am terrified something is going to happen to the two of you.”   
  
“Bruce, look at me,” Natasha said, moving her hand from his knee to his cheek. “We aren’t going anywhere, no one is going to take us away from you. I won’t let them,” she told him earnestly.   
  
Bruce stared into her eyes and knew she was telling the truth. Natasha was no stranger to not having good things in her life and now that she had her happy ending she wasn’t going to let anything happen to them.   
  
“How are you so calm?” He asked her.   
  
“I’m not. I’m just better at keeping my emotions to myself.”   
  
Bruce nodded and looked back down at Ruby, sleeping peacefully in his arms, and yawned.   
“You need some sleep,” Natasha said, standing from the stool, holding back a yawn of her own.   
  
“We all do,” Bruce said standing as well. He moved to put Ruby back in her crib, but Natasha stopped him.   
  
“One night in Mama and Papa’s room won’t hurt,” she said already pulling Ruby’s bassinet into the hallway behind her.   
  
Bruce smiled and followed after Natasha, whispering to Ruby as he went. “I think Mama’s gone soft.” 


End file.
